Calon Segur invests EUR20m on renovation

Known for its discretion, the Saint Estèphe-based third growth (pictured) is using part of the investment to install a new tasting room, general manager Laurent Dufau told decanter.com. It should be completed in time for Bordeaux en primeur this year.

‘We would like to open the château more to the public,’ he said. By 2017, the chateau and surrounding park will be renovated to accommodate guests.

Dufau added that this month that he became the estate’s first France-based representative to host a trade tasting in the US in 120 years.

‘The new owners seek to invest in more such tastings, he said after a 16-vintage vertical tasting in Washington DC.

Calon Segur and its sister chateau, Capbern Gasqueton, were acquired by French insurance company Survanir Assurances in 2012 for EUR170m. Jean-François Moueix is a minority stakeholder via his Videlot wine firm.

A new vat house is set to open at Calon Segur in 2016, with tank sizes corresponding ‘precisely’ to specific vineyard parcels, Dufau said. It will also enable gravity filling techniques.

The EUR20m investment is also being used to increase vineyard density by 25% to 10,000 vines per hectare (ha), which should be complete by 2028, Dufau added.